TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2012//
TI  - The Social Dimension of Stress Reactivity: Acute Stress Increases Prosocial Behavior in Humans
JO  - Psychological science
A1  - von Dawans, Bernadette
A1  - Fischbacher, Urs
A1  - Kirschbaum, Clemens
A1  - Fehr, Ernst
A1  - Heinrichs, Markus
SP  - 651
EP  - 660
VL  - 23
IS  - 6
N2  - Psychosocial stress precipitates a wide spectrum of diseases with major public-health significance. The fight-or-flight response is generally regarded as the prototypic human stress response, both physiologically and behaviorally. Given that having positive social interactions before being exposed to acute stress plays a preeminent role in helping individuals control their stress response, engaging in prosocial behavior in response to stress (tend-and-befriend) might also be a protective pattern. Little is known, however, about the immediate social responses following stress in humans. Here we show that participants who experienced acute social stress, induced by a standardized laboratory stressor, engaged in substantially more prosocial behavior (trust, trustworthiness, and sharing) compared with participants in a control condition, who did not experience socioevaluative threat. These effects were highly specific: Stress did not affect the readiness to exhibit antisocial behavior or to bear nonsocial risks. These results show that stress triggers social approach behavior, which operates as a potent stress-buffering strategy in humans, thereby providing evidence for the tend-and-befriend hypothesis.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0956-7976
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797611431576
ID  - ref1
ER  -